Best Response Ever

Jim Webb, whose awkwardness on the stump was well known during his Senate campaign, just delivered the most compelling response and rebuttal to a State of the Union address I’ve seen in the past 15 years. He nailed it — conveyed his personal knowledge about military service, that people serve without regard to political ideology or political indentification, and did it without succumbing to partisan one-upmanship. He invoked the trust those who serve have in their commmander in chief, their faith that he sends them into harm’s way with the most noble of intentions. He even managed to make reference to his father’s sevice, his own in Vietnam and his son’s in Iraq — all without condescension or self-congratulation. His direct delivery, his deliberate pauses between sentences, his old-fashioned accent — all made it an unapologetic speech but not a lecture. He showed the Democrats, and all those who oppose Bush on Iraq, a way to oppose the war with dignity, humility and strength.